A Little Christmas Case
by Alisa Yang
Summary: When Shinichi gets in a fight with Ran, he finds himself alone on Christmas. Fortunately, there is a mystery to be solved (even if it starts with a ruined breakfast), and there's nothing to get his mind off things like a little Christmas case! Written for the Poirot Cafe 2015 Secret Santa exchange.


A Little Christmas Case

by Alisa Yang

Christmas Eve was supposed to be a night for couples. After finally admitting to Ran that he liked her, and bringing up the possibility they should be dating, Shinichi thought that he had never accomplished anything greater, not even taking down the Black Organization. But he was new at this dating thing.

Shinichi knew Ran, but he didn't know how to be a boyfriend. In fact, he was probably a lousy one, because he couldn't quite figure out why she had gotten so mad at him the other day and called off their Christmas Eve dinner. Great detective indeed.

He woke up Christmas Day to a quiet house. His parents were overseas as usual. Their house was just to make sure they had a place to stay for when they _did_ come back and visit. Accordingly, they had arranged for a potted Christmas tree to be delivered and decorated, even though they would probably never see it. The tree service had been booked months in advance.

Shinichi dragged himself to the kitchen, and took out a skillet and a partially filled carton of eggs. Scrambled eggs for breakfast sounded good. He set the skillet on the stove, picked up the first large egg, and cracked it soundly against the rim.

Poof!

He blinked as his vision exploded in confetti and a slip of paper fluttered down to land inside the skillet.

That egg...

He looked at the remainder of the shell still in his hand, and it was an eggshell, but someone had cleaned out the inside and there was a small metal bar taped within, so he wouldn't notice the difference in weight when he picked it up.

Forget the shell, he told himself. The note...

 _You'll find it in the smallest shadow beneath the red tower._

Find what? In the smallest shadow?

Well, if it was the tower itself casting the shadow, the smallest would be when the sun was directly overhead, placing "it" directly under the tower. And the red tower was clearly Touto Tower. That wasn't very complicated. He wouldn't even have to wait until noon.

Shinichi didn't have much else planned. With Ran mad at him there would be no dinner plans today either.

He carefully picked up another egg and cracked it against the pan, hoping that he would at least have enough to make breakfast.

It exploded with the message saying, _You can always get breakfast along the way._

Shinichi grumbled.

-DC-

He didn't know why he was being urged out of the house so badly, but he had memories of his parents pulling stunts on him like this before, so he figured he would puzzle this out, and then his parents would be happy that he hadn't spent the entire day sulking at home. But how did they even know what happened between him and Ran? Maybe Ran's mom had said something to his? That seemed a decent guess. She had known Shinichi and Ran had planned a date for Christmas Eve, so if she found out that Ran didn't go she could have said something.

Underneath the tower he found a balloon vendor dressed up in a full body bear costume. He wasn't entirely sure how the poor woman could see anyone in that get-up, but she was dutifully bestowing Christmas themed balloons to customers with dates or small children.

Shinichi looked around for something unusual as he chewed on a rolled crepe he had picked up along the way. It was not yet noon, so he couldn't tell if there was something more that would be revealed once the shadows were actually at their smallest, but his riddle giver didn't seem to have much patience, so he doubted that it was necessary for him to be here right at noon itself.

He started walking around the base, looking for something unusual. The area was more crowded in general due to the festive atmosphere.

"Balloons! Balloons for Christmas!"

The vendor's voice carried well. Shinichi wondered if Ran would feel better if he got her one. Maybe something cute with a reindeer.

"Would you like a balloon? You look like you need one."

Shinichi turned to see the plush face of the bear costume staring right at him. "Gah!" He reeled back suddenly. She was way too close.

"I'm sorry," she said. "You looked lonely. Do you want a balloon?"

The costume head titled down as she worried at the bundle of strings that kept most of the balloons secured to the waist of her costume. Her hands were entirely covered in faux fur gloves, which must have made the costume awfully warm, and probably comfortable in this winter weather.

"I don't really need one..." Shinichi started to say.

"Here!" the vendor announced, pulling a single string away from the rest with a quick snap of the wrist. "It's free. Merry Christmas!"

"Well, I guess..."

There was a little weighted cylinder on the end of the string so it wouldn't fly away, the bane of every child's existence, and she tucked it in his hand.

"Thank... you?" Shinichi looked up and saw that the balloon was a replica of the Touto Tower. It was bright red, and casting a damn tiny little shadow right where he stood.

"Hey!" Shinichi turned to look for the costumed bear, but whoever had been in there had vanished, balloons and all. He wasn't sure how that was even possible for a person to move that quickly.

But he had a balloon. And a shadow. And under that shadow...

He lifted the weight for the balloon and it looked like there was a cap to one end of the cylinder. Shinichi frowned and twisted it off. There was a small piece of paper inside. Thankfully no confetti.

 _You'll find the next clue atop the rigors of your adolescent advancement, hidden by blades that blunt the air._

His adolescent advancement? Like his in particular?

That made things too easy. The clue clearly meant the roof of his high school. The blades though... A windmill? They didn't have one, let alone on the roof, and windmills weren't for blunting the air.

Shinichi looked up and caught a glimpse of a costumed bear disappearing down the block. Had she been waiting on him to finish? He frowned. Fine, he'd go to school.

Christmas was on a Saturday this year, so there was no class. Shinichi made his way up to the roof of the main building and looked around. There was probably someone watching him again, but he couldn't catch so much as a shadow out of place. On a suspicious whim he looked up, just because he knew it was the last place anyone would expect to see another person, but there was only the cold winter sky.

Okay, he told himself. Blades that blunt the air. Let's start looking for them.

He walked up to the fence at the edge of the roof and looked out across the view. Maybe the blades were something he could see from here; a windbreak of some kind.

But as he circled the perimeter of the roof, searching and staring, he had the feeling that he was going about this the wrong way.

 _...atop the rigors of your adolescent advancement..._

That made it sound like the clue, and therefore the blades, were on the roof itself, and not a part of the view. But there wasn't anything that looked like a blade... was there?

He peered at the few structures on the roof; a supply shed, the stairwell, the _air conditioning vents..._

The vents weren't in use now that it was winter, but they had fans, and fans had blades. He peered inside the nearest rooftop vent, raised high enough that people wouldn't trip on it as they walked past, and tried to get an angle where he could see under a blade. There seemed to be something inside, a red wrapper of some kind.

Praying that someone wouldn't decide now was a good time to turn on the circulation, he squeezed an arm down the shaft and rooted around until he felt his fingers touch paper. Pleased with himself, he managed to catch it between his middle and index fingers and pulled it out.

It was a small holiday themed envelope with trees and reindeer on it, and had been taped shut by a Santa sticker.

Shinichi slid a finger under the flap of the envelope and managed to wriggle it open without tearing Santa in half, which seemed rather mean for Christmas. Inside he found a white slip of paper that said:

 _Congratulations! You should get yourself some lunch. My treat!_ He found a thousand yen inside. _Don't spend it all in one place!_ Shinichi groused, wondered if the letter writer was being intentionally facetious. A thousand yen wasn't a lot of money.

 _I promise there's more for you later._ The letter writer punctuated this with a smiley. _As for your next clue, the eight children wait by the station for the train to come, but they have never gotten on. Wouldn't you like to help them?_

Eight children? And there were tons of train stations! Maybe it was one by a school, probably an elementary school. He knew how the trains would pack full of kids right after class let out, but today was a Saturday. There shouldn't be any kids waiting now.

Shinichi started walking and picked up a sandwich along the way, using the thousand yen to pay for it. Cheapskate, he thought.

Eight children. _Hachi kodomo_. _Hachi ko... domo?_ Hachiko _?_

If he used just the "child" _ko,_ like the kanji used in a girl's name, then he ended up with something very close to Hachiko, and while the _ko_ in "child" was different form the longer _kou_ used in _Hachikou_ the sound was still close enough that the pun had to be part of the letter writer's intention. Hachiko was the dog immortalized as a statue at the Shibuya train station, where he would always wait for his deceased master.

That clue gave him the right station to go to. But how was he supposed to help Hachiko get on board? It wasn't like he could lift up the statue, and even if he could, that would be interfering with public property.

Shinichi took a bus over to the station and looked around. Just beyond the ticketing gate was a plush akita with a red ribbon around its collar and a tag with the number 1 written in thick black marker. It sat on top of a vending machine, eyes turned longingly in his direction as if it had been waiting.

Frowning, Shinichi pushed through the gate and strode up to the vending machine. A short jump was enough to get his hand high enough to grab it, and then when he looked around, he spotted a second one tucked in a corner, which he had only been able to see once he had gotten to where he had to stand to retrieve the first. Its collar had a tag with the number 2.

He was going to have to carry eight of these?!

And so it went. After 2 came 3. Number 4 was beside a bench. Number 5 almost completely hidden under a jacket. His arms were completely full by the time he managed to wrap a hand around the eighth one, and by then he could barely see around them to get on the train. And to where? Was he supposed to just push them on board and let them go?

If the next clue didn't show up while he was "boarding" them, it was probably on the train itself. And it wasn't like he would feel comfortable just abandoning a load of plushies on the train.

He crab walked up to the boarding area, making sure he was standing behind someone else who was also waiting, and then pushed his way on board the first train that pulled in. It was for the city loop so he didn't have to worry about ending up out in the countryside somewhere.

With a sigh he looked for a place to sit, and finding an open bench for two, he sagged into one and dropped all the plush dogs into the other. Maybe the clue was actually in their collars. Now that he had them all, he could take a look.

Shinichi removed the collar of the first one and turned it over in his hand. He was right. There was a small scrap of paper tucked around the inside. It said "Congratulations!"

He dug through the others. Each of the dogs had a scrap of paper with a few words inside. He probably should have looked before he had gotten on the train. Now he was looping around Beika and he wasn't sure where the next clue would send him.

When Shinichi put all the scraps in order they said:

 _Congratulations! Did you enjoy helping the eight get on board? They're going to good homes. Don't worry. When you're ready for the next clue, exit at the Ginza station and you will find someone waiting to take them._

Ginza? Shinichi sighed.

Adding insult to injury, as he settled in for another loop around the city, someone else asked to sit in the seat he was using for the plush dogs, making him put the load of them on his lap.

-DC-

"Are you the one who called saying that he wanted to donate a bunch of plush toys?"

Shinichi had barely gotten off the station when a middle-aged man he did not recognize approached him. Thinking about what the clue had say, he said, "Yes, I think so." Donation would be a good home, right? "But do you have something to carry them in?"

The man smiled and said, "If you'll just walk over here we have a box for all our donations this year."

And he did. There was a woman sitting on a chair by a colorfully decorated box which already had other toys inside. Shinichi dropped the dogs in the box and his shoulders sagged in relief. "Phew. Thank you!"

"Not a problem! Oh, and one of your friends asked us to give you this. He said his cell phone died, but he knew you were coming here so he wanted to leave you a message."

Intrigued, Shinichi took the slip of paper and unfolded it to see the same writing he had been looking for every clue this journey.

This latest message simply said, _Merry Christmas! Hope you were able to cheer up and have fun! When you're ready, there's something waiting for you by the Christmas tree_.

...Which he could only interpret as being the Christmas tree in his house. He thought of his parents, sending him off on this silly trip around town. Then he smiled. Well, it did get him out of the house and his mind off Ran for most of the day, so that was probably worth it. He should be grateful.

It took a while to make the return trip, but Shinichi came home, by which time the sun had already set. There was already a light on in the house and he opened the door to smell fried chicken, the Christmas tradition.

"I'm home! Mom? Dad?" he called out.

"Wrong on both counts!"

The cheerful voice was showy and definitely smug.

Shinichi came to the family dining table to find a large red and white striped bucket of fried chicken and a certain white garbed thief in a top hat and monocle, who was standing by the Christmas tree with the most satisfied grin on his face. The brim of Kaitou Kid's hat was tipped low over his face out of habit, and not that it mattered much between them. They looked enough alike to pass for twins.

"You?" Shinichi frowned. "Those puzzles were too simple for you."

Kid continued to grin. "If I had written them in my usual style, Great Detective, would you have followed them on Christmas Day, knowing that it was me?"

Probably not, especially knowing that Kid had invaded his home and his breakfast for no reason other than to send him on a wild goose chase across town. Shinichi eyed the bucket of chicken and the assorted side dishes set around it. Kid had brought chocolate cake too.

"I figured you needed some cheering," said Kid, "and when you're sad, there's nothing better than a meal with a friend."

Shinichi sighed and pulled out a chair. He sat down. "Fine. I admit it. I appreciated the diversion, even though it wasn't by who I thought it was."

His unexpected guest took a bow. "I try to put on good show."

"The bear costume was a bit much."

Kid laughed and used a set of tongs to place two pieces of fried chicken on a plate. He passed it to Shinichi. "That was fun. I don't often use that sort of thing as a disguise."

Shinichi accepted it and said, "Are you really going to eat all dressed up like that?" He eyed the top hat and monocle, the clean white gloves.

Kid tilted his head, considering. "Well, the gloves will get dirty so all right, I'll skip those, but don't expect me to leave fingerprints behind. The hat and monocle will be fine though." He grinned, adding chicken to his own plate.

The thief sat down across from him and carefully pulled off his gloves. He regarded Shinichi with a wily amusement. "Don't be afraid to start eating. I promise, there is no confetti inside the chicken."

"I'm not afraid of that." Shinichi glowered, but it was hard to be completely upset with Kid. He'd done him a favor, and the dinner was surely to lift his spirits. Christmas was the time of year that families got together and ate chicken, and Shinichi's family was abroad.

"Don't worry," said Kid, "your girlfriend will forgive you once she has a chance to cool down."

"How do you know that?" Ran was probably eating with her parents, one or the other, or maybe both.

Kid smiled. "Trust me. I go through something similar every week."

Ran... probably would. Forgive him, that is. He'd been stupid enough numerous times in the past. Kid was right.

Shinichi shrugged and returned the smile. "All right. I will."

* * *

 _A/N: This was written for Poirot Cafe's 2015 Secret Santa exchange based on the prompt provided by Azrayah, since this was her gift. :) She requested "Conan/Shinichi is upset during the holidays and someone tries to cheer him up."_

 _I apologize if my Japanese is a bit dodgy since I only took a year of it in college. I'm really not sure the wordplay is any good for the third clue. Either way, writing this turned out to be a lot of fun!_

 _I don't normally write_ Detective Conan _fanfic, but if you like_ Magic Kaito _you can check out my other work at FFnet._


End file.
